The OPUSfidelis Super Bowl roundup

On Sunday, Americans all across the United States gathered for one of the country’s most-watched annual sporting events: the Super Bowl. Given the 100 million+ member audience the event garners, advertisers reliably produce what is supposedly their best content, paying out as much as $5.6 million a slot for airtime in hopes that the attention is worth it all. (More proof that the actual football game is just a sideshow to the commercials.)

If you didn’t catch all the commercials on Sunday, fear not! We magnanimously took the time to watch all of them so you don’t have to. OPUSfidelis presents… drumroll… the Super Bowl 2020 commercial roundup!

The All-Around Champion

We get it – the whole iconic movie recreation commercial thing has been done before (whether it’s Ferris, or Kevin McAllister). But the Bill Murray Groundhog Day ad just knocked it out of the park – er, football field. Messaging on target? Check. Premise of ad relevant to product? Check. Effective appeal to nostalgia AND an adorable animal? Check.

The Best Action Sequence

In an ad that is arguably more exciting than the game itself, Porsche presented some killer car chase footage that will have you on the edge of your seat – and wishing that seat was in the front of a Porsche.

The Funniest

This spot with Ellen DeGeneres explored what people must have done before Alexa – in a comical variety of places and times.

The Shortest and Sweetest

Proving more isn’t always better, Cheetos artfully amused audiences with the help of MC Hammer – in less than 30 seconds.

Most Relatable

There’s nothing worse than being locked out of your account. Dashlane hilariously captured the feeling in “Password Purgatory” – and offers a solution.

The Weirdest (Tie)

When We Come Together – A bevy of brands bizarrely joined forces in this “super ad” for the Super Bowl, produced by Procter and Gamble. It claims to be the first “interactive” Super Bowl ad. (Disclaimer: watch at your own peril. Mr. Clean’s mopping technique and the Charmin’ bear’s victory dance have induced severe psychological distress in some viewers.)

Mr. Peanut’s Wild Ride – In a bizarre saga of departure, death, and resurrection, Planters created quite the stir with a two-ad narrative centering around their centenarian legume mascot, Mr. Peanut. All weirdness considered, we think Planters actually won on this one because it generated so much attention. For a full timeline, you can read this article at SBNation.

The Creepiest

There, there, Google, you can’t be the best at everything. In an attempt to pull on heartstrings, Google Assistant produced a commercial called “Loretta,” where an elderly man creepily gives over every personal detail, photo, and video of his life to Google Assistant – telling it to “remember” each one. (Don’t worry, Google doesn’t need a reminder. Aside from the privacy aspect, what’s surprising is that they were able to get Google Assistant to give answers besides “I’m sorry, I didn’t catch that,” or “Search results for….”)